As is known, there is a large need for small driven vehicles, which can carry only a single person and a small amount of relatively light cargo. Such vehicles can be used, for example, by messengers, for parts delivery in large industrial plants, or as golf carts. The usual golf cart will accommodate at least two individuals and, as a consequence, is relatively large and bulky, at least too large to be carried in the trunk of an automobile. This means that most golf carts are owned by golf courses or country clubs and rented to players. Furthermore, the size of a conventional golf cart, which is usually battery powered, necessitates the use of a relatively large drive motor and other heavy components, including the batteries. As a result, the initial cost of such carts is high as is the rental which must be charged for their use.
In view of such, there is a need for a lightweight golf cart which will accommodate a single golfer, which can be bought or rented cheaply, and which can be folded and placed in an automobile trunk if desired whereby the golfer can buy their own cart and need not to rent one each time they play.
Attempts have been made to develop small golf carts to provide individual golfers with a motorized means for conveying the golfer and his or her golf bag about a golf course. Exemplary of such attempts are those golf carts shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,369,629, 4,522,281, 4,538,695 and 4,573,549, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. These designs have focused on providing a small, lightweight golf cart that may be collapsed for storage and transportation. Some have also been designed for use by a golfer walking beside the cart as well as riding upon it.
Though the concepts and basic design goals just described have been good, their implementations have not. As a result chariot type golf carts have failed to achieve popularity. Their lack of commercial success has been principally due to the difficulty of devising a golf cart with both the desired degree of versatility and simplicity of design. As a result, some desirable features have almost invariably had to be sacrificed.
For example, the golf cart illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,369,629 does have the attributes of having an articulated handlebar that may be moved between riding, walking and storage positions. It however is essentially a conventional, heavy, seat bearing cart with only side access and which requires the golfer to sit closely aside one or between two golf bags. Also when only one bag is carried, as would often occur with a one-person cart, the center of gravity of the cart is shifted to one side of center line thereby adversely affecting stability. The cart of U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,281 on the other hand is of simpler and of lighter construction in that it does not have a seat and which does provide a detachable club mount that is on center line. It however cannot easily be mounted from the rear nor can it be easily operated while walking.
The cart of U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,695 does have rear mounting, is lightweight and is designed to be operated while walking. These features however are achieved at the sacrifice of center line bag mounting, structural and aesthetic complexity, and an inability to be configured compactly for storage. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,549 cart has similar design tradeoffs in that it is without center line bag mounting and walk-beside operative capabilities.
It thus is seen that a need remains for a sulky type golf cart of simple, lightweight and high stability configuration that may easily be configured for storage, riding or walking. It is to the provision of such therefore that the present invention is directed.